Etsy Around the World: raspberrykidz

This week the Etsy Around the World features takes us to the Windy City to visit with an artist who adds a magical touch to the drawings that children create. She works with both artwork from her children and those you provide for a custom piece.

Who are you?
My name is Rachel Switall and my shop name is RaspberryKidz.

Why did you choose your shop name?
I chose RaspberryKidz because a “raspberry” refers to that loud kiss people give their babies (usually on their tummies) to make them laugh. It’s a gesture of love that usuallly leads to the giggles. I thought it was appropriate for my shop.

Where are you located?
Chicago, IL

What do you create?
I create 3-D computer generated prints inspired by children’s drawings. I love doing custom orders based on kids’ art. I also sell already printed pieces based on my own children’s drawings. And I make personalized pictures for the nursery, which include the child’s or baby’s name and birthdate.

Have you ever visited North Carolina (if so, what was your favorite part of that trip)?
I think I was only in North Carolina once. My sister (Maybeads) was on our town’s travelling softball team, and they had a tournament. Not necessarily my favorite part, but definitely the one I remember, was catching my mom smoking in the bleachers when she had “quit” awhile before. I think she might have just had a puff from someone else, but she was still busted.

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?
I love going downtown—whether it be to Millennium Park or Michigan Avenue. I love the hustle and bustle and the diversity in the city.

What inspires you?
Obviously kids’ drawings have always inspired me. I love the work of James Rizzi because it reminds me of kids’ drawings.

Where do you create?
I have a small loft off my bedroom, but I do most of my work at the kitchen counter. Since I work on my laptop, I can take it just about anywhere. I do the actual printing, cutting and taping in the loft at my drafting table.

What is the most time consuming part of your craft?
The most time-consuming part of my craft is probably creating the initial outline. I take a picture of the child’s drawing, upload it onto the computer and do the outlining in Illustrator. I want to enhance the picture and clean up some “rough spots,” but I’m always sure to keep it close enough to the original so it still has that child’s style. Sometimes it’s a balancing act—using both our styles so they complement each other and work well together. After I’m happy with that, I then work on cleaning up all the lines, but not too much. Part of what I love about kids’ art is that it’s not perfectly straight and neat.

What is your favorite place to sell your items?
I probably prefer in person. It helps for people to see the pictures in person. Because the 3-D quality is so subtle, it doesn’t always come across well online. I like to see people discover it and take a second look. That being said, I really do love the online community and all the people I’ve met.

Below is a before/after sample of some artwork from raspberrykidz...

--Find more of Rachel's art on her website and blog.

Etsy Around the World: RandomQuirks

This week the Etsy Around the World features takes us across the pond to visit with a young artist in the United Kingdom. Her jewelry will likely bring back childhood memories of playing with Barbie!





Who are you?
I’m Diane, 21 years old and my shop is called Random Quirks

Where are you located?
I live in Manchester, in the UK

What do you create?
I create fun, nostalgic jewellery out of plastic kids toys like Barbie

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
I’ve only been to the airport in Charlotte when I had a connecting flight a couple of times, but it was a really memorable airport. It was just after Christmas last year so all the decorations were up, like a Santa in an airplane hanging from the ceiling. I also thought the rocking chairs in the terminal were pretty neat.

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?
I don’t really have a hometown because I used to move a lot so I’ll do Manchester since I’ve been there for 3 years and never felt more at home. My favourite place to visit is Oldham Street, which is full of vintage and quirky shops, including Affleck’s Palace, which is a huge building full of indie businesses. You could spend a whole day there - I love it.

What inspires you?
New supplies, I just love browsing places offline and online for new bits and pieces that I can turn into jewellery. I also get random ideas for new products at night when I’m trying to sleep. I have to keep a notebook by my bed now.

Why did you choose your shop name?
The name just came to me a couple of years ago. Random and quirky are my favourite words and they also describe me, so it was perfect.

What online activities have brought you the most noticeable success?
My shop views have soared thanks to setting up a Twitter account. No direct sales from it yet but I’m still fairly new to it and having fun exploring.

What are your goals?
My main business goal is to one day have my own bricks and mortar shop where I can sell mine and other indie artist’s unique work and promote handmade items. And personal, who knows? - hopefully to get a job and just be happy

What do you do when you are not creating?
I’m just about to start a Masters in fashion marketing so that’s going to keep me quite occupied. I also like to hang out with my friends, read and live at the cinema. I can’t get bored in Manchester.

--See more artwork from Diane in her ToastRack Etsy shop. You can also find her on Twitter and read more on her blog.

Etsy Around the World: WoodDucksAndMore

This week the Etsy Around the World features takes us a short trip to the Northwest of our state to visit with one of the few men who are selling their art on Etsy. He's made several trips to North Carolina, which have given him a glimpse of some of the very birds that he creates in silhouette.

Who are you?
Anthony Trimboli of WoodDucksAndMore

Why did you choose your company name?
My company name is play on words. The wood duck is a colorful, small duck that nests and roosts in trees and is very common in Kentucky. They are by far one of my favorite species of waterfowl. A drake wood duck is pictured in my Etsy avatar. My waterfowl decoys are also made out of wood - wood, cork, or canvas - they all have wood in them to some extent. So I am making wood ducks, but I also make other birds and flat art. The name Wood Ducks and More just kind of came to me one day and it fit so well that I went with it.

Where are you located?
Franklin, KY the south-central part of the state, due north of Nashville, TN

What do you create?
I mainly make traditionally styled waterfowl and shorebird decoys. Ducks and other waterfowl are made from cork, wood, or my personal favorite – stretched canvas over a wire and wood frame. Shorebirds are made from wood and are either full bodied or silhouettes cut from thin lumber and painted to resemble the species. Although my carvings are traditional in style I use modern materials where appropriate or more environmentally friendly. When possible I also utilize recycled or salvaged materials – anything from scrap lumber to old canvas shopping bags.

Recently I have also started to do a little flat art painting, mostly watercolor, but I have been experimenting with mixed media watercolor and acrylics together. Using the two types of paints in the same painting allows for some cool effects to be done.

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
Yes! I have been to North Carolina many times. Visited the Smoky Mountains several times and have been to the Outer Banks, where coincidently, some of the most famous decoy carvers are from. It is hard to pick a favorite part from these trips as each one had its own great points and all were different. To put it in context with my art I would have to go with the outer banks as I actually got to meet some local decoy makers in their shops and see some of their works in progress. Also it was nice to see waterfowl like brant that we don’t have in Kentucky. I remember taking a ferry between two islands and getting close looks at a flock of several hundred brant bobbing up and down while feeding, their big white rear ends looking like bleach bottles floating in the ocean. Then they would sit back up and it looked like someone turned out the lights! Very cool to watch.

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?
Well, it’s not quite in my home town but very close. Mammoth Cave National Park is my favorite place to visit. Most people that have never been there think that the park is just the cave but there is a whole lot of land on top of it. Habitat varies from old growth forest to bottom land forest, cane breaks, prairies, limestone glades, and the Green River – one of the most biodiverse river systems in the world. It is a great place to go for a hike and take pictures of wildflowers and wildlife or take the watercolors and just sit on the edge of the trail and paint. Of course there is the cave and that is awesome too!

What inspires you?
Most of my inspiration comes straight from nature. I love to watch wildlife and to botanize while I hike. The species that I carve and paint are ones that I have seen and studied in the wild. It is very hard for me to create a piece trying to depict something I have not seen in life.

Where do you create?
I don’t have a fancy set up for carving, just a workbench in the spare bedroom. I try to confine my carving to one place as it helps (somewhat) to contain the dust and chips. Since I carve by hand most of the debris is in the form of chips and shavings so it is easy to clean up. Once I get the bird carved I either paint it at the workbench or I put a card table in the living room and paint while I watch a movie or football. My flat art is either painted on the card table or out in the field.

What is the most time consuming part of your art?
The most time consuming part of carving is creating a good pattern. A good pattern is essential because once the design is on the wood and the profile is cut out the basic shape is set. If the pattern is off the finished carving will not have the correct look. It looks like a simple process but creating a pattern can be tricky as you have to envision what the finished carving will look like after the extra wood is removed. I always try to leave a little more wood then I think I will need as I can always take it off later.

What are your goals?
My goals as an artists are to continue pushing myself to try new techniques and to improve with each piece I create. If I learn something in the creation process I consider the piece a success. It is also important to me to try and learn about other art forms as they can lead to insights in how I can do things differently with my carvings. As an example, painting flat art with watercolors has led me to try new techniques with my acrylics on decoys. At the same time my experience with acrylics has lead me to try comingling them with the watercolors on flat art.

Business goals are to keep plugging away and expanding as time permits. Currently I am selling on Etsy and at a local gallery, and that is keeping me busy for the moment. In the near future I hope to be offering prints of my watercolor and mixed media paintings.

--Become a fan of WoodDucksAndMore on Facebook.

Etsy Around the World: WhimsicalFantasies

This week the Etsy Around the World features takes us out West to visit with artist who implements a variety of mediums and styles. In her Etsy shop, customers find a mix of subjects and styles of art.. from canvas paintings to miniature room boxes and dioramas to altered art.

Who are you?
Aria/Whimsical Fantasies

Where are you located?
Oregon

What do you create?
Altered Art, Miniatures, Journals, And Regular Paintings/Drawings

Why did you choose your shop name?
I wanted something that spoke of the kind of art I create, that way others would know right from the get-go that what they will find in my shop is both whimsical and full of fantasy.

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
No, but my husband has, and he said he loved all the trees.

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?
The airport, because of where it’s located: it’s the last spot in this city where it’s still country with farms, fields, and livestock.

What inspires you?
Two things inspire me: music is so much a part of my life, I’m surrounded by it everyday (married to a musician), I’ll hear a piece of music and it will bring back a memory or help me make a mental picture of an emotion, and then I’ll go paint it. The other is the imaginations of children, because they have such fun and creative imaginations, they come up with the most unusual ideas and ways of looking at things sometimes.

What is the most time consuming part of your art?
It’s not any of the logistics such purchasing supplies or running a shop, but actually the very first thing that comes to mind with regards time consuming is one particular piece I make, that of the mini buildings and homes. Every bit of them is hand cut, even the roof shingles. And since they fit in the palm of your hand, that’s a lot of shingles.

When did you start creating?
I have been interested in art since I was a kid, in fact the very first picture I sold was when I was seven years old, my single mother worked at a fitness gym, and I used to sit in the lobby of the gym waiting for her shift to end. I’d occupy my time with drawing. I happen to have a bag of bird feathers for crafts, and I drew a bird in which I glued the feathers onto the paper. A gym guest took pity on me and bought it for 10 cents. Fast forward 13 years, I started selling graphite portraits, mostly by word of mouth, then around five years ago, I started selling them online.

What do you do when you are not creating?
Read. I read a lot. I just love books. Right now I am reading about how to build a ‘homestead’ believe it or not. Also I’m always on the internet trying to learn new and useful things. There is a lot of time wasters and just plain awful stuff online sometimes, so I try to avoid those kinds of things.

Etsy Around the World: celizabethdesigns

Etsy Around the World takes us a few hours to the south this time to visit with a artist who loves color.







Who are you?
My name is Claire Lucier and my shop is c elizabeth designs!

Where are you located?
Atlanta, Georgia, on the banks of the Chattahoochee River

What do you create?
My lovable letters are my shop’s bestsellers! They are super cute and can be custom ordered to match just about everything. I love the look of painted letters- but can’t keep a steady paintbrush to save my life. After failing to create a good painted letter for my niece’s first birthday, I tried to decoupage one with scrapbook paper. It turned out adorable and on a whim I took pictures and posted it on Etsy. Now I take orders for baby showers, office decorations, wedding centerpieces, children’s rooms, etc. In addition to my letters I also make jewelry, clothing and other odds and ends. If I can create it- I do!

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
I LOVE North Carolina. One year my family rented a cabin for the week of Thanksgiving. We went hiking, to the Biltmore Estate and sifting to find gemstones!


What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?
While I now live in Atlanta, the majority of my life was spent in Cincinnati, Ohio. There is a gorgeous park in Newport, Kentucky that overlooks the Ohio River and the city of Cincinnati. It is very peaceful with park benches and gazebos. A great place to take pictures too!

What inspires you?
Color!! I love just sifting through stacks of scrapbook paper looking for new patterns that jump out at me. I love all things bright and cheery, my wedding colors were even hot pink, lime green and bright orange. I also get inspired while shopping- sometimes I’ll see a display of clothing and like the way the colors look together and start a new project!

What is the most time consuming part of your art?
Organizing what the client wants and shopping for the perfect patterns to fit their demands. My letters are custom order and while I try to keep an up-to-date list of patterns I have in stock, sometimes customers want to match a child’s bedding, or have a specific idea in mind. Often I will go to two or three different stores trying to find a pattern to match.

What online activities have brought you the most noticeable success?
I joined Team NorGa. It seems a lot like your team, but for North Georgia! While it doesn’t directly bring me sales, I’ve learned a lot about the best ways to market, where to find supplies in my area and gotten great support from other wonderful artists!

Do you have any advice to share on how you have made your business grow?
Be patient! This is a tough one for me- I’m not patient at all. I started getting frustrated in the beginning because it took a while to get my first sale. JOIN TWITTER!! That helped spread the word about my shop a lot. Put yourself out there and the sales will come, you just have to be patient at the get go!

What do you do when you are not creating?
Well- right now I keep busy, but I am looking for a full time job. On top of my crafting, I am starting a local synchronized swimming team for young girls and taking care of my husband and our two cats. We love going out to watch Gator football games and exploring our new city!

Etsy Around the World: Amorandstitch

Etsy Around the World takes us across the ocean this time to visit with a wonderful embroidery artist.







Who are you?
My name is Gemma Rodrigues and my etsy shop is called Amorandstitch

Where are you located?
I am located in Spain in Barcelona.

What do you create?
Embroidery art pieces in locket's, pillow's, in frames and canvas's.

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
I have never visited North Carolina but I would love too!

Why did you choose your shop name?
I moved from UK to Spain 7 months ago, so I decided to have a change of career from Art Psychotherapist to artist so that is when I started this journey on Etsy I chose my name which linked the two things that were important at the time Love (Amor) of my family and stitching my art so Amorandstitch was born!

What is the most time consuming part of your art?
I love my pendants, as they are so unique and I am going to start to create interchangeable art pieces for people to purchase so they can change the look of the pendant. But they are very time consuming due to their size, it requires a lot of patience.

What are your goals?
I am really enjoying Etsy and I plan to continue making and listing, but I also want to create some prints of my art to make cards and art canvas's for the wall. I have also just launched my own website--check it out! But most of all my goal's are to enjoy every moment of my life with my lovely family and be happy!!

When did you start creating?
I have been creating art since I was a child, I went from school to college onto university I then worked as an art psychotherapist for 8 years. In that time I discovered the magically link between emotions and art on a much deeper level. I am now enjoying being a mum of two little people and creating my art.

What inspires you?
I get inspiration from lots of different areas, but I mostly sit in my garden watching my children playing and make sketches of possible art pieces, so I guess from life.
But also my love for vintage, as I like to use vintage images and materials in my work, I am starting a new collection of embroidered postcards soon.

Etsy Around The World: merrydaledolls

Etsy Around the World takes us to our neighbor to the north this time to visit with a wonderful shop for kids. Merrydale Dolls are inspired by the Steiner/Waldorf education tradition of dollmaking, are designed and handmade from natural materials.

Who are you?
I’m Chris and my etsy shop is Merrydale Dolls

Where are you located?
I live in Toronto, Canada

What do you create?
I make cloth dolls.

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
Unfortunately, no, but I have heard there are some beautiful places to visit there.

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?

One of my favourite places in Toronto is the Music Garden on the waterfront. The cellist, Yo-Yo Ma and landscape designer, Julie Moir Messervy, worked together to create a garden inspired by a Bach suite. It is a beautiful and peaceful place to sit in away from the bustle of the city.

What inspires you?
I‘m inspired by the wonders of the world of nature, by the imagination of the child (however old!) and by stories.

Why did you choose your shop name?
As I create “little people”, elves and fairies and gnomes, I wanted a merry fairytale place where they could live, and what better than an imaginary place in my native country of Yorkshire, a valley below heatherclad moors, with a bluebell wood of course. One of my sons painted a picture of Merrydale for me and my other son used bits of it to create my etsy shop banner.

What is the most time consuming part of your craft?
Most of my work requires handsewing and that takes time -especially the eyes of my dolls!

How do you envision your creations being used by your customers?
I hope that my dolls are used by children in imaginative play and that they will be good companions.

Why did you choose your medium?
I try to use natural materials – especially wool for stuffing- so that the dolls are pleasant and safe for children to handle. I love working with the textures and colours of cotton velour and wool.


What is your favorite or most cherished handmade item that you own?
I cannot choose one between these three:
A handmade book of poems, chosen and beautifully illustrated by one son as a gift to me, when he was 11. A wooden box made by my second son when he was 15. It has a painting of me as a queen on the front! I cherish these two because I know how much patience, creativity and love went into making them. And they remind me so much of the individual character of their makers.
A silver and malachite bracelet my dear late husband brought me from Prague. I know he was really thinking of what I would like when he chose this and, of course, it will always remind me of him.

Chris is a proud member of the etsy Natural Kids Street Team too!

Attention NCTriangle members: If you've spotted a wonderful Etsy shop else where in the world, contact me for the questions to interview them with and you can get them in the spotlight or on our blog!

Etsy Around the World: La Chapina

Etsy Around the World holiday trip takes us to Latin America to visit a shop with some local color. La Chapina recycles beautiful textiles into ornaments, and fabric mosaics. Come with me to Guatemala for a twist on traditional materials.


Who are you (actual name and/or shop name)?
My name is Erin, and my shop is called La Chapina. (You can read more about Erin at her blog http://huipil-crafts.blogspot.com/)

Where are you located?
I've been living in Antigua, Guatemala, for a little over a year and a half, but I'm moving back to the US in about a month.

What do you create?
I make things like ornaments, dolls, cards, mosaics, and fabric art from used Guatemalan textiles called huipiles (traditional hand-woven blouses worn by indigenous women in Guatemala). I also make jewelry from eco-friendly seeds from the South American rainforest.

Have you ever visited North Carolina (if so, what was your favorite part of that trip)?
Yes, I went on a family vacation to North Carolina when I was a teenager. We stayed in a cabin and went canoeing.

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown (and why)?
Antigua, Guatemala, isn't my hometown, but it's been a great place to live and is very popular with tourists. The site below shows provides a lot of information about things to do here. I especially like getting an ice cream cone and walking around the central park.

http://www.aroundantigua.com/antigua.htm

What inspires you?
Browsing at the local mercados (markets) and shops is what inspires me. The colors here are amazing, and I always manage to find something interesting that makes me think, "Somebody could make something really cool with this!" And sometimes that somebody is me :)

Why did you choose your shop/company name?
There are affectionate nicknames for people from different Central American countries. For example, the nickname for a person from Nicaragua is nico (masculine) or nica (feminine), and in Honduras it's catracho (masculine) or catracha (feminine). In Guatemala, it is chapin (masculine) or chapina (feminine). Because it is almost always women and girls who weave the beautiful Guatemalan huipiles, I have named this site La Chapina to honor them and their beautiful work.

What is you most popular item that you create (any why do you think that it’s so popular)?
Recycled huipil Christmas ornaments have been my most successful product. I sold hundreds of sets last year. I think they're popular for a number of reasons: They're colorful, they provide a touch of Guatemala to holiday decor (important to those families who have adopted from here), they are eco-friendly, and they are unique - I've never seen any other ornaments made from these textiles.

Why did you choose your medium?
At a local shop last fall, I came across scraps cut from used huipiles at a local store and began sewing things like Christmas ornaments, baby dolls, mosaics, and fabric collages from them. After posting some photos on my personal blog of things I'd made, people started wanting to buy them. Learning about where the different textiles came from and the methods of making them became a new passion for me.

Do you have any advice to share on how you have made your business grow?
My Etsy sales took off when I began offering related supplies. Realizing that Etsy is a market full of creative people, I began selling craft supplies like fabric scraps, beads, and embellishments, all from Guatemala or other Latin American countries.

What is your most cherished handmade item that you own? why?
One of my most treasured handmade items is a baby quilt made by my great-grandmother for the occasion of my mother's birth in 1951. It's got wonderful pastel vintage fabrics and little animals hand-embroidered in the squares. My mom gave it to me when we started the process to adopt our daughter!

Etsy Around the World: WindTwirler

For our next Etsy Around the World Holiday shopping, we are visiting a shop full of things for her -- mom, sis, friends. If you admire those artists who can turn a sheet of paper into an amazing origami piece and the jewelers who make earrings out of anything, you are going to love Windtwirler. She is able to combine the two into some very stunning items.

Who are you?
Heather Taylor
Windtwirler

Where are you located?
Corpus Christi Tx and Rockledge Fl

What do you create?
Paper Performances: miniature origami usually in the form of earrings, radish earrings both beaded and crochet, unique purses and bags

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
I have been to North Carolina many times. My favorite time this summer was walking to the top of Clingman’s Dome and remembering all the times my dad took me there when I was a little girl. Actually I love everything about the mountains in North Carolina.

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown (Rockledge Florida)?
My favorite place to visit in my hometown is my home because my mom is there. I also enjoy the manatees and windsurfing in the Indian River Lagoon.

What inspires you?
I am inspired by the qualities of a particular paper or bead. When I hold a piece of paper I will get a vision of what that paper is "meant" to be.

I am just as often inspired by a customer's request. Sometimes this is even more fun and productive. I suppose customer's ideas light a fire in my imagination.

Where do you create?
Almost everywhere, I always have bits of paper with me. “Never and idle moment.” My passion for origami has gotten me through many long waits.

Why did you choose your shop name?
I chose the name Windtwirler because I love to windsurf and my daughter loves to twirl a baton.

What is the most time consuming part of your craft?
The most time consuming part of my craft is learning to fold new designs. As far as the actual production of the origami earrings, the most time consuming step is always the folding.

How do you envision your creations being used by your customers?
I have a vision of my creations hanging from people’s earlobes.

When did you start creating?
I have been folding origami since I was 4 or 5 years old. I began making earrings almost a year ago when the bottom fell out of the radish earring market.

I have been making radish earrings since I was 15 years old. I went on a trip to Germany and the mom of my host family asked me to make her veggie earrings. I began crocheting when I was 4 years old- my grandmother taught me and I had taken some bedspread cotton and crochet hooks to Germany with me.

I have been making beaded jewelry since I was 11 years old. Every summer I went to stay with my aunt and uncle in the suburbs of Chicago. My aunt would not leave the house so she would put me in a cab and one cabbie took me to a craft/beading shop and I have done beading sporadically ever since

What types of things do you do to turn first time buyers into repeat clients?
I ship my items immediately in pretty packaging with a thank you card.

What do you do when you are not creating?
I windsurf and spend time with my children. Well, to be honest, I spend a lot of time driving them from one activity to another. So I actually spend a good deal of time driving in circles. This is when I think up new designs.

What is your favorite or most cherished handmade item that you own?
I own so many handmade items that are dear to my heart. I have blankets that my mom and grandma crocheted and knitted. My mom refinished much of the furniture that my aunt left me. Everywhere I look I see a handmade heartfelt memory.

Etsy Around the World: Snow Fish

Are you ready to begin your Holiday decorating? This is the shop to start in. Our world wide shopping spree takes us to the UK for some handmade decorations and goodies.



WHO ARE YOU?
My name is Kirsty New and I run three Etsy shops:
SnowFish.etsy.com - Handmade Christmas goodies BigFish.etsy.com - Colourful Supplies
PaperFish - Unique bunting, brooches and badges

WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED?
I am a UK designer and Maker. Blog: Kirstyfish.blogspot.com - i LOVE to blog and keep it regularly updated with my Crafty Life x

WHAT DO YOU CREATE?
I love to work mainly with felt, fabric and buttons!! I am addicted to buttons.
I make bunting, badges, brooches, decorations...

I have NEVER visited North Carolina, sorry x I did go to Disney World once though!
There is no place to 'visit' in my hometown - I live in the middle of rural countryside so i visit alot of trees and fields with my dog, a fat chocolate labrador.

WHERE DO YOU CREATE?
I work from a very chaotic Art Room in the English Countryside near Oxford. It is BIG with a huge 10 seater dinner table and loads of shelves. There is no spare inch in that room and it is crammed full of supplies. I keep meaning to tidy it.... I am also a Mom to the best little 4yr old girl so i do my creating wherever she is playing.

What do you do when you are not creating?
Truly, i only ever walk, yoga and create... all day, every day.
Creating is something i have to do. A project or idea springs into my head and i cannot settle until i have tried it out. My partner says I am 'obsessed' by crafting, but that isn't true! Crafting just makes me happier than almost anything else! It is the biggest part of who I am and I'm not happy unless I am cutting, sticking, sewing or selling!

When did you start creating?
I have always created. All my family are Business People, Inventors and Entrepreneurs. We all work for ourselves and not one person in my dads side or moms side works for another company. Even my partner just started his own business. We are all very creative people! AND, we must all be either very hard to work with or very wacky and un-controllable!

The key to success?
First decide what it is that you think is 'success'. Always be yourself.
Never copy what other people do or sell. Work hard and Play hard. Put the whole of yourself into a project and you'll get what you want in return. To me, work and play are the same thing and i love every minute of what i do x

What online activities have brought you the most noticeable success?
Etsy has totally changed my life and bought me so much business. It has given me a great base to work from and meet so many other talented crafters who have become friends.
Also, my blog http://kirstyfish.blogspot.com/ it is a great way to connect with people and i love to share my crafty life with people who are just as passionate about MAKING as I am.

The Most Cherished Handmade Item i own...
That is so difficult - having a 4yr old means i get cherished handmade crafts given to me every day, with dripping paint and loose glitter everywhere! But at this moment, it is a pair of knitted mice that i bought from a church craft sale last weekend. They are a pair ready to get married, knitted by a 92 year old lady! They are for daughters Christmas present and she will ADORE and cherish them

Etsy Around the World: McCoys Toys

Our next shop on our world wide shopping spree is very close to home. McCoy Toys makes toys like we used to play with at my grandmother's house. If you are looking for a local handmade gift for a child, this is your shop.


Who are you?
John & Emily of McCoyToys

Where are you located?
Asheboro, North Carolina

What do you create?
Hand crafted wooden toys, games & puzzles.


What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?
We enjoyed our recent visit to a new gallery in Asheboro, Circa Gallery. Our toys will be featured in the gallery before Christmas.


What inspires you?
We enjoy making toys that will put a smile on the face of a child or an adult and we are content using our God given gifts/talents.

Why did you choose your company name?
Our last name is McCoy; therefore we chose to name our company The Real McCoy, Inc. and we chose McCoyToys as our etsy shop name. With our motto being: No Batteries Required - Just Imagination.

What is your favorite place to sell your items?
We enjoy selling online, but nothing beats being able to “show & tell” children and adults about the toys. We love to see the expressions of joy, surprise & fascination on the faces of children of all ages.

Do you have any advice to share on how you have made your business grow?
We attended small business courses at the Randolph County Community College, these are sponsored by the NC REAL program (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning). We learned much about starting a business as well as how to target & attract your market share. Our business was also one of those chosen to be featured in the NC REAL publication to be printed later this year (2008).

What types of things do you do to turn first time buyers into repeat clients?
Our toys, games and puzzles are made one at a time, and we strive for & take pride in quality. We ask our customers to let us know if they have a problem with an item & ask anyone who has made a purchase in the past if the toy is still working and if they had any problems with it we want to know!

We are members of the ACE Team (Amazing Carolina Etsians) and we have a team blog too. We are also members of The Handmade Network.

Etsy Around the World: Elysium Beads

I'm ready to start Christmas shopping. From now until Christmas I will be featuring Etsy shops that have unique items for Christmas gifts and decorations. This week we begin in Australia to see what a lampworker does. I was very amazed at Rebecca's work. This is one of those shops where it was almost impossible to pick just 3 photos. everything she has is gorgeous. I'm hoping my husband took my hint about how much I looooove these beads.

Who are you?
My name is Rebecca Cordingley and my business’s name is Elysium Beads.

Where are you located?
Adelaide, South Australia.

What do you create?
I’m a lampworker. I primarily make glass beads but occasionally make small glass vessels (perfume bottles). I also use some of my glass beads to make jewellery.

Have you ever visited North Carolina?
No, I haven’t but I’ve spent a couple of weeks in the US and loved it!

What is your favorite place to visit in your hometown?
I enjoy driving through the Adelaide Hills. It’s a beautiful area with lots of small towns. The official website is at http://www.visitadelaidehills.com.au/

Where do you create?
I have a lampwork studio in my home with a Mini CC dual-fuel (propane and oxygen) torch. (how awesome would it be to have a cool crafting tool like that!) When I’m making jewellery, I usually sit on either the bedroom or living room floor, surrounded by boxes of my glass beads and other supplies.

What is you most popular item that you create?
Pandora/Troll/Biagi-style beads. The bracelets are hugely popular at the moment and people seem to like buying one-of-a-kind lampwork beads to go on them. I also sell quite a few focal beads and sets but Pandora-style beads are currently the most popular.

What is your favorite place to sell your items?
I sell both online and in person but prefer to sell online as you can easily reach a huge market and the people who look at my shop seem to be looking specifically for lampwork beads.

What online activities have brought you the most noticeable success?
I’ve recently started using social networking sites such as Twitter and Flickr and they’re a great way to advertise for little or no cost. As a seller on Etsy, I think joining Teams is a big help. I’m a member of the Lampwork Etc Street Team (LEST) and Down Under Street Team (DUST). LEST in particular is a great community and all the members help to advertise each other.

When did you start creating?
I started making lampwork beads in August 2006 but then had a long break in 2007 when I moved interstate to study for a year and wasn’t able to take my equipment with me. Before getting involved in lampworking, I had been doing a lot of photography and did a couple of Black and White darkroom courses. I’ve also been knitting for several years so even before becoming starting lampworking, I’d been involved with arts and crafts for a long time.

Find out more about Elysium Beads at elysiumbeads.etsy.com and elysiumbeads.com